I have been pulling my hair out the last few weeks listening to amps at different stores. My final three choices are the Rogue Audio M150, McIntosh MC352 (used from a friend) and the McCormack DNA-225. All are well built. No problem there. All presented a great warm sound. My dilemma is that I keep hearing about how tubes don't have the same weight, authority or control of bass as solid state. And I can't honestly say that I heard a difference going from stereo to monoblocks. Granted, I can't hear them all at the same time due to different audio stores, but I don't feel like the Rogues were lacking in the bass area, yet neither the McCormack or the McIntosh seemed overwhelmingly powerful in comparison to the Rogue. Any help, suggestions, medication (LOL) you can recommend is greatly appreciated.
Dave, you make a good point. My situation is that I wish I could audition all three, in the same room on the same day under the same conditions. Unfortunately, I cannot. That said, I just wanted to hear some others experiences with these products. Thanks for responding, and yeah, medication will be in order at some point.
Are you listening to your own music? If not, you should be. You should never use entire tracks or discs to compare the equipment. Pick two or three one minute selections since longer will overload your audio memory and lead to a faulty decision. Make sure your selections encompass the type of music that means the most to you. Always listen to exactly the same selections in the same order before and after each equipment change. Do not make a decision on the first listen but go back and listen again (3+ times, if needed). Do not rush the decision since you do not want to make a mistake. You could bring a friend to help but this is your equipment so it must be your decision to make. If you cannot decide, wait one week and go listen again. If all the equipment sounds the same, pick other familiar music selections and listen again (or change the equipment). This is not an easy process so please take your time and do not rush it. Hope this helps.
Tubes have Zero issue with bass, and actually in my experience Deeper, Fuller, and more impactfull bass in many cases as long as everything else impedance wise and speaker efficiency wise are taken into consideration with much care.
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